Joseph Luns - Misplaced Pages

Dutch politician and diplomat (1911–2002)

Joseph Luns
Luns in 1979

5th Secretary General of NATO
In office 1 October 1971 – 25 June 1984
Preceded by	Manlio Brosio
Succeeded by	The Lord Carrington
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 13 October 1956 – 6 July 1971
Prime Minister	See list Willem Drees (1956–1958) Louis Beel (1958–1959) Jan de Quay (1959–1963) Victor Marijnen (1963–1965) Jo Cals (1965–1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966–1967) Piet de Jong (1967–1971)
Preceded by	Johan Beyen
Succeeded by	Norbert Schmelzer
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 11 May 1971 – 1 October 1971
In office 23 February 1967 – 5 April 1967
In office 3 July 1956 – 3 October 1956
Parliamentary group	Catholic People's Party
Minister for Foreign Policy
In office 2 September 1952 – 13 October 1956
Prime Minister	Willem Drees
Preceded by	Eelco van Kleffens (1947)
Succeeded by	Office abolished

Personal details
Born	Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns (1911-08-28)28 August 1911 Rotterdam, Netherlands
Died	17 July 2002(2002-07-17) (aged 90) Brussels, Belgium
Political party	Catholic People's Party (1945–1972)
Other political affiliations	Independent Christian Democrat (Conservative Catholic) (from 1972)
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Spouse	Baroness Lia van Heemstra (m. 1939; died 1990)
Relations	Theo Luns [nl] (brother) Ella van Heemstra (niece in law) Audrey Hepburn (first niece-in-law once removed)
Children	2
Parent	Huib Luns (1881–1942) (father)
Alma mater	Leiden University (LLB, LLM) London School of Economics (BEcon)
Occupation	Politician diplomat civil servant jurist economist historian
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Navy
Years of service	1930–1931 (Conscription) 1931–1936 (Reserve)
Rank	Warrant officer
Unit	Netherlands Coastguard
Battles/wars	Cold War

Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjoːzəf ˈlʏns]; 28 August 1911 – 17 July 2002) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), diplomat, and jurist. He served as Secretary General of NATO from 1 October 1971 until 25 June 1984.

Luns attended Saint Ignatius Gymnasium in Amsterdam from April 1924 until June 1930. He was conscripted in the Coastguard of the Royal Netherlands Navy serving as a warrant officer from June 1930 until July 1931. He applied at the University of Amsterdam in July 1931 majoring in law before transferring to the Leiden University in November 1932, obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1933 and graduating with a Master of Laws degree in July 1937. He applied at the London School of Economics of the University of London in January 1938 for a postgraduate education in economics, obtaining a Bachelor of Economics degree in June 1938.

In September 1971 Luns was nominated as the next Secretary General of NATO. He resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as secretary general, serving from 1 October 1971 to 25 June 1984. He retired after 31 years in national politics and became active in the public sector, where he was a diplomat and lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government and as an advocate for United States–European Union relations and European integration.

Biography

Early life

Luns was born in a Roman Catholic, Francophile and artistic family. His mother's family originated from Alsace-Lorraine but had moved to Belgium after the annexation of the region by the German Empire in 1871. His father, Huib Luns, was a versatile artist and a gifted educationalist who ended his career as professor of architectural drawing at the Delft University of Technology. Luns received his secondary education in Amsterdam and Brussels. He opted to become a commissioned officer of the Dutch Royal Navy but registered too late to be selected. Therefore, Luns decided to study law at Amsterdam University from 1932 to 1937.

Like his father, Luns demonstrated a preference for conservative and authoritarian political parties and an interest in international politics. As a young student he positioned himself on the political right, favouring a strong authority for the state and being of the opinion that socialism, because of its idealistic ideology, had fostered the rise of fascism and nazism. Luns joined the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) in 1933 and left three years later but when questioned about it in later years, never admitted that it might have been "a youthful misjudgment".

His choice for a diplomatic career was inspired by his father. He joined the Dutch Diplomatic Service in 1938 and, after a two-year assignment at the Private Office of the Foreign Minister, was appointed as attaché in Bern (Switzerland) in 1940. In late 1941, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal. In both countries, he was involved in assistance to Dutch refugees, political espionage and counterintelligence. In 1943, he was transferred to the Dutch embassy in London. Ambassador Edgar Michiels van Verduynen discovered Luns's great affinity for the political element in international affairs and entrusted him with important files on Germany, which Luns handled with great skill.

In 1949, Luns was appointed as deputy Dutch permanent representative to the United Nations. He worked closely with his new chief, Von Balluseck, a political appointee without diplomatic experience. After the Netherlands became a member of the Security Council, he temporarily chaired the Disarmament Commission. Luns was sceptical of the importance of the United Nations for international peace, believing it at times to be more like a forum for propaganda than a centre for solving international conflicts. Still, he thought that it was worthwhile to keep the UN in shape because it was the sole international organisation which offered opportunities for discussions between all states.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (1952–1971)

Because of the tenacity of the Dutch Catholic People's Party to occupy the Foreign Ministry after the 1952 elections, Luns entered Dutch politics as the favourite of its political leader Carl Romme. His co-minister was Johan Beyen, an international banker not affiliated to any political party but the protégé of Queen Juliana. The two ministers had a completely different style of operating and clashed repeatedly on policy even before the end of 1952. However, they accommodated and avoided future conflicts by a very strict division of labour. Luns was responsible for bilateral relations, Benelux and international organisations. After the 1956 elections, Beyen left office and Luns stayed as Foreign Minister until 1971 in both centre-left and centre-right governments. Bilateral relations with Indonesia and the Federal Republic of Germany, security policy and European integration were the most important issues during his tenure. Atlantic co-operation was a fundamental aspect of Luns's foreign policy, and Dutch foreign policy in general. Luns believed that Western Europe could not survive the Cold War without American nuclear security and so he promoted strong and intensified political and military co-operation in NATO. Luns accepted American leadership of NATO as such but expected better co-operation between the United States States and its allies since, he thought that the United States too often acted independently of its allies, particularly in decolonisation issues. Luns could also be critical of US foreign policy, and, in bilateral relations, he defended Dutch national interests strongly and expected American support in the bilateral difficulties with Indonesia.

In 1952 Luns expected to improve relations with Indonesia without transferring the disputed area of West New Guinea to the former colony. By 1956, however, this policy had proved ineffectual, but Luns and the Dutch government were still determined not to transfer West New Guinea to the Republic of Indonesia. When, in 1960, it became obvious that allied support for this policy, particularly from the United States, was waning, Luns tried to find an intermediate solution by transferring the administration of the territory to the United Nations, but that attempt to keep West New Guinea out of Indonesian hands failed as well. After difficult negotiations, the area was finally transferred to the Republic of Indonesia in 1963 after a short interim administration of the UN. Despite his personal anger over this outcome, which was considered a personal defeat by Luns, the foreign minister still worked to restore relations with Indonesia in the aftermath of the West New Guinea problem.

Luns was more successful in the normalisation of the bilateral relations with West Germany. Luns shared Dutch public opinion in demanding that Germany recognise the damage it had caused during the Second World War, and so a mea culpa required. He demanded that before any negotiations on other bilateral disputes could start, the amount of damages to be paid to Dutch war victims had to be agreed upon. During the final stages of the negotiations on bilateral disputes between the two countries, Luns decided to come to an arrangement with his German colleague on his own accord. He made concessions and so the Dutch parliament threatened not to ratify the agreement. With the full support of the government however, Luns was able to overcome the crisis.

European integration was permanently on Luns's political agenda. Beyen had introduced the concept of the European Economic Community. In March 1957, Luns signed the Treaties of Rome establishing the EEC and Euratom. Although he preferred integration of a wider group of European states he accepted the treaty and defended the supranational structure it was based on. The endeavours of French president Charles de Gaulle to subordinate the institutions of the Six to an intergovernmental political structure, could count on strong opposition from Luns: such plans would, in his view, serve only French ambitions of a Europe independent of the United States.

Initially, Luns stood alone and was afraid that Franco-German co-operation would result in anti-Atlantic and anti-American policies that harmed the interests of the West. He made British membership of the European institutions conditional for his political co-operation. Gradually his views on Gaullist foreign policies were shared by the other EEC members and they joined Luns in his objections. Two of De Gaulle's decisions stiffened the opposition: his denial of EEC membership to the United Kingdom in January 1963 and France's retreat from the integrated military structure of NATO in 1966. Luns played a vital role in the negotiations unwinding French participation and continuing its political membership of the Alliance. By then, Luns had internationally established his reputation as an able and reliable negotiator and was seen as an important asset in London and Washington. After the retreat of De Gaulle in 1968, the EEC Summit of The Hague, in December 1969, ended the long crisis of the EEC integration process, opened the way to British membership and agreed on new venues for political co-operation, a common market and monetary union.

Throughout his years as Dutch foreign minister, Luns had gained an international status uncommon for a foreign minister of a small country. He owed this to his personal style in which duress, a high level of information, political leniency and diplomatic skills were combined with wit, gallant conversation and the understanding that diplomacy was a permanent process of negotiations in which a victory should never be celebrated too exuberantly at the cost of the loser.

NATO Secretary-General (1971–1984)

In 1971, Luns was appointed as NATO secretary-general. At the time of his appointment, public protests against American policies in Vietnam were vehement throughout Western Europe and among European politicians the credibility of the American nuclear protection was in doubt. Though there were initial doubts about his skills for the job he soon proved that he was capable of managing the alliance in crisis. He regarded himself as the spokesman of the alliance and he aimed at balancing the security and political interests of the alliance as a whole.

Luns was in favour of negotiating with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact members on the reduction of armaments if the Western defence was kept in shape during such negotiations. European members of NATO, according to Luns, should understand that the United States carried international responsibilities while the latter should understand that in-depth consultation with the European governments was conditional to forging a united front on the international stage, which could be accepted and endorsed by all members of NATO.

US-Soviet negotiations on mutual troop reductions and the strategic nuclear arsenal caused severe tensions. Luns convinced American leaders that it undermined the credibility in Western Europe of their nuclear strategy by neglecting European fears of a change of strategy which would leave Europe unprotected in case of a Soviet nuclear attack. The modernisation of the tactical nuclear forces by the introduction of the neutron bomb and cruise missiles caused deep divisions. In the end, Luns succeeded in keeping NATO together in the so-called Double-Track Decision of December 1979. The deployment of these new weapon systems was linked to success in American-Soviet arms reduction talks.

It was also the duty of the secretary-general to mediate in cause of conflicts within the alliance. He was successful in the conflict between Great Britain and Iceland, the so-called Second Cod War not by pressuring the Icelandic government to end its aggressive behaviour against British trawlers but by convincing the British government that it had to take the first step by calling back its destroyers to open the way to negotiations. Luns failed however in the conflict between Greece and Turkey over the territorial boundaries and Cyprus. Lack of co-operation on both sides made Luns unable to mediate or advise on procedures to find a way out.

Between 1964 and 1984 he participated in every annual conference of the Bilderberg Group.

Late life

Luns retired as secretary-general in 1984, staying in office for almost 13 years, more than anyone else. Because of the changes the 1960s and 1970s had brought to Dutch society and culture, the strongly conservative Luns decided not to return to his home country but instead settled in Brussels to spend his remaining years in retirement. Luns died at 90.

Honours and awards

Luns was awarded many high-ranking awards during his lifetime, among them the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur in 1954, Member of Order of the Companions of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President Ronald Reagan in 1984. In his home country, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, the highest civil decoration of the Netherlands, in 1953. In 1986, he was awarded the Atatürk International Peace Prize.

Personal life

Luns married Baroness Lia van Heemstra, who was a niece of Baroness Ella van Heemstra, the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn. The Lunses had two children − a son and a daughter.

He remained a practising Catholic throughout his life and was generally sympathetic to the traditionalist Catholic position but never affiliated himself with dissident groups. Luns visited the Tridentine Mass held by the Assumptionist priest Winand Kotte, who opposed the modernising policies of the Second Vatican Council, in St. Willibrord's Church, Utrecht in August 1971. This seems to have been something of a misunderstanding on Luns' part however, since he had never heard of Kotte's anti-Council movement and did not wish to be affiliated with it.

An avid stamp collector, his favourite reading material included classical literature, history books (Luns was an expert on the history of the Napoleonic era) and detective novels. Because of his interests in international navies, the latest edition of Jane's Fighting Ships was always within his reach in his office.

Decorations

Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
Honours
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Rose	Brazil	10 January 1953
	Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav	Norway	25 April 1953
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit	Italy	15 September 1953
	Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold	Belgium	10 January 1954
	Grand Cross of the Order of George I	Greece	14 February 1954
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II	Ethiopia	1 July 1954
	Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour	France	12 August 1954
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown	Luxembourg	30 May 1955
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant	Thailand	5 September 1955
	Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star	Sweden	30 September 1955
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit	Germany	10 December 1956
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	5 December 1966	Elevated from Grand Officer (29 April 1959)
	Honorary Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour	United Kingdom	14 June 1971
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	17 July 1971	Elevated from Commander (18 October 1956)
	Presidential Medal of Freedom	United States	10 June 1984

Notes and references

"Joseph Luns". NATO. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.26-28
"Mr. J.M.A.H. (Joseph) Luns" (in Dutch). Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.42-44.
^ van der Vat, Dan (18 July 2002). "Joseph Luns". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.67-72.
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.83-87.
Until 1962, Luns was notorious for his highly critical statements on the US's Indonesian policy, Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.620
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.128-132
Kersten, A.E., Luns. A political biography. Amsterdam 2010 p.592
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 p.611
Presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
"Atatürk Uluslararası Barış Ödülü – AYK". www.ayk.gov.tr. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
Kersten, A.E., Luns. Een politieke biografie. Amsterdam 2010 pp.448-449

External links

Official

(in Dutch) Mr.Dr. J.M.A.H. (Joseph) Luns Parlement & Politiek
NATO Declassified – Joseph Luns (biography)
Biography on NATO

Political offices
Preceded byEelco van Kleffens (1947)	Minister for Foreign Policy 1952–1956	Succeeded byOffice discontinued
Preceded byJohan Beyen	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1956–1971	Succeeded byNorbert Schmelzer
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byManlio Brosio	Secretary General of NATO 1971–1984	Succeeded byLord Carrington

v t e Secretaries general of NATO
Lord Ismay Paul-Henri Spaak Dirk Stikker Manlio Brosio Joseph Luns Lord Carrington Manfred Wörner Sergio Balanzino* Willy Claes Sergio Balanzino* Javier Solana Lord Robertson of Port Ellen Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo* Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Anders Fogh Rasmussen Jens Stoltenberg Mark Rutte
*Acting

v t e Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Buys Gogel Van der Goes van Dirxland Röell Mollerus Van der Heim Van Hogendorp Van Nagell Reinhold Van Reede De Coninck Verstolk van Soelen H. van Zuylen van Nijevelt Huyssen van Kettendijke Schimmelpenninck van der Oye De la Sarraz Van Randwijck Schimmelpenninck Bentinck van Nijenhuis Lightenvelt Van Sonsbeeck Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Hall Gevers van Endegeest Van Goltstein Van Hall Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van der Goes van Dirxland Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt Strens Stratenus Van der Maesen de Sombreff Huyssen van Kattendijke Cremers Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Mulken Roest van Limburg Van Mulken Gericke van Herwijnen Van der Does de Willebois Van Heeckeren van Kell Van Lynden van Sandenburg Rochussen Van der Does de Willebois Du Tour van Bellinchave Van Karnebeek Hartsen Van Tienhoven Jansen Röell De Beaufort Van Lynden Ellis Van Weede van Berencamp Ellis Van Tets van Goudriaan De Marees van Swinderen Cort van der Linden Loudon Van Karnebeek Beelaerts van Blokland De Graeff Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Colijn Patijn Van Kleffens Van Roijen Van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout Stikker Beyen Luns Schmelzer Van der Stoel Van der Klaauw Van der Stoel Van Agt Van den Broek Kooijmans Van Mierlo Van Aartsen De Hoop Scheffer Bot Verhagen Rosenthal Timmermans Koenders Zijlstra Kaag Blok Kaag De Bruijn Knapen Hoekstra Schreinemacher Slot Veldkamp

v t e Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands
Cabinet of the Netherlands
Interior	Burger Van Schaik Teulings Albregts De Bruijn Van Boxtel De Graaf Pechtold Nicolaï Leers Blok Van Veldhoven Bijleveld De Jonge
Foreign Affairs	Van Verduynen Van Roijen Van Kleffens Luns
Justice	Nawijn Verdonk Dekker Weerwind
Economic Affairs	Jetten
Health	Rouvoet Bruins Van Rijn Van Ark Helder Dijkstra
Social Affairs	Schouten
Education	De Brauw Van Veen Trip Peijnenburg Ginjaar Van Trier Slob Wiersma Paul
Agriculture	Van der Wal
Housing	Vogelaar Van der Laan Van Middelkoop
Colonial Affairs	Soejono Götzen

v t e Recipients of the Charlemagne Prize
1950–1975	1950 Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi 1951 Hendrik Brugmans 1952 Alcide De Gasperi 1953 Jean Monnet 1954 Konrad Adenauer 1955 1956 Winston Churchill 1957 Paul-Henri Spaak 1958 Robert Schuman 1959 George C. Marshall 1960 Joseph Bech 1961 Walter Hallstein 1962 1963 Edward Heath 1964 Antonio Segni 1965 1966 Jens Otto Krag 1967 Joseph Luns 1968 1969 European Commission 1970 François Seydoux de Clausonne 1971 1972 Roy Jenkins 1973 Salvador de Madariaga 1974 1975
1976–2000	1976 Leo Tindemans 1977 Walter Scheel 1978 Konstantinos Karamanlis 1979 Emilio Colombo 1980 1981 Simone Veil 1982 King Juan Carlos I 1983 1984 1985 1986 People of Luxembourg 1987 Henry Kissinger 1988 François Mitterrand / Helmut Kohl 1989 Brother Roger 1990 Gyula Horn 1991 Václav Havel 1992 Jacques Delors 1993 Felipe González 1994 Gro Harlem Brundtland 1995 Franz Vranitzky 1996 Queen Beatrix 1997 Roman Herzog 1998 Bronisław Geremek 1999 Tony Blair 2000 Bill Clinton
2001–present	2001 György Konrád 2002 Euro 2003 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 2004 Pat Cox / Pope John Paul II 2005 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi 2006 Jean-Claude Juncker 2007 Javier Solana 2008 Angela Merkel 2009 Andrea Riccardi 2010 Donald Tusk 2011 Jean-Claude Trichet 2012 Wolfgang Schäuble 2013 Dalia Grybauskaitė 2014 Herman Van Rompuy 2015 Martin Schulz 2016 Pope Francis 2017 Timothy Garton Ash 2018 Emmanuel Macron 2019 António Guterres 2020 Klaus Iohannis 2022 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria Kalesnikava, Veronika Tsepkalo 2023 Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian people 2024 Pinchas Goldschmidt and the Jewish communities in Europe
Received extraordinary prize.

v t e De Jong cabinet (1967–1971)
Preceded: Zijlstra cabinet Succeed: First Biesheuvel cabinet
Prime Minister	Piet de Jong (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Johan Witteveen (Finance) Joop Bakker (Transport and Water Management and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Henk Beernink (Interior) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Carel Polak (Justice) Leo de Block (Economic Affairs) (1967–1970) Johan Witteveen (Economic Affairs) (Ad interim) Roelof Nelissen (Economic Affairs) (from 1970) Willem den Toom (Defence) Bauke Roolvink (Social Affairs and Health) Gerard Veringa (Education and Sciences) Pierre Lardinois (Agriculture and Fisheries) Wim Schut (Housing and Spatial Planning) Marga Klompé (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)
Minister without portfolio	Bé Udink (Aid to Developing Countries)
State Secretaries	Chris van Veen (Interior) Hans de Koster (Foreign Affairs) Ferd Grapperhaus (Finance) Klaas Wiersma (Justice) Louis van Son (Economic Affairs) Joop Haex (Defence) Adri van Es (Defence) Bob Duynstee (Defence) Roelof Kruisinga (Social Affairs and Health) Hans Grosheide (Education and Sciences) Mike Keyzer (Transport and Water Management) Hein van de Poel (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)

v t e Zijlstra cabinet (1966–1967)
Preceded: Cals cabinet Succeed: De Jong cabinet
Prime Minister	Jelle Zijlstra (General Affairs and Finance)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Jan de Quay (Transport and Water Management) Barend Biesheuvel (Agriculture and Fisheries and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Koos Verdam (Interior) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Teun Struycken (Justice) Joop Bakker (Economic Affairs) Piet de Jong (Defence) Gerard Veldkamp (Social Affairs and Health) Isaäc Arend Diepenhorst (Education and Sciences) Herman Witte (Housing and Spatial Planning) Marga Klompé (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)
Minister without portfolio	Theo Bot (Aid to Developing Countries)
State Secretaries	Leo de Block (Foreign Affairs and Transport and Water Management) Louis van Son (Economic Affairs) Gerard Peijnenburg (Defence) Adri van Es (Defence) Heije Schaper (Defence) José de Meijer (Social Affairs and Health) Louis Bartels (Social Affairs and Health) Hans Grosheide (Education and Sciences)

v t e Cals cabinet (1965–1966)
Preceded: Marijnen cabinet Succeed: Zijlstra cabinet
Prime Minister	Jo Cals (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Anne Vondeling (Finance) Barend Biesheuvel (Agriculture and Fisheries and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Jan Smallenbroek (Interior) (1965–1966) Ivo Samkalden (Interior) (Ad interim) Koos Verdam (Interior) (from 1966) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Ivo Samkalden (Justice) Joop den Uyl (Economic Affairs) Piet de Jong (Defence) Gerard Veldkamp (Social Affairs and Health) Isaäc Arend Diepenhorst (Education and Sciences) Ko Suurhoff (Transport and Water Management) (1965–1966) Pieter Bogaers (Transport and Water Management) (Ad interim) Ko Suurhoff (Transport and Water Management) (from 1966) Pieter Bogaers (Housing and Spatial Planning) Maarten Vrolijk (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)
Minister without portfolio	Theo Bot (Aid to Developing Countries)
State Secretaries	Theo Westerhout (Interior) Leo de Block (Foreign Affairs) Max van der Stoel (Foreign Affairs) Wiel Hoefnagels (Finance) Joop Bakker (Economic Affairs) Gerard Peijnenburg (Defence) Adri van Es (Defence) Jan Borghouts (Defence) (1965–1966) Heije Schaper (Defence) (from 1966) José de Meijer (Social Affairs and Health) Louis Bartels (Social Affairs and Health) Hans Grosheide (Education and Sciences) Siep Posthumus (Transport and Water Management) Cees Egas (Culture, Recreation and Social Work)

v t e Marijnen cabinet (1963–1965)
Preceded: De Quay cabinet Succeed: Cals cabinet
Prime Minister	Victor Marijnen (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Barend Biesheuvel (Agriculture and Fisheries and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Edzo Toxopeus (Interior) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Johan Witteveen (Finance) Ynso Scholten (Justice) Koos Andriessen (Economic Affairs) Piet de Jong (Defence) Gerard Veldkamp (Social Affairs and Health) Theo Bot (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management) Pieter Bogaers (Housing and Construction) Jo Schouwenaar-Franssen (Social Work)
State Secretaries	Leo de Block (Foreign Affairs) Isaäc Nicolaas Diepenhorst (Foreign Affairs) Willem Hendrik van den Berge (Finance) Joop Bakker (Economic Affairs) Joop Haex (Defence) Adri van Es (Defence) Willem den Toom (Defence) José de Meijer (Social Affairs and Health) Louis Bartels (Social Affairs and Health) Hans Grosheide (Education, Arts and Sciences) Louis van de Laar (Education, Arts and Sciences) Mike Keyzer (Transport and Water Management)

v t e De Quay cabinet (1959–1963)
Preceded: Second Beel cabinet Succeed: Marijnen cabinet
Prime Minister	Jan de Quay (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Henk Korthals (Transport and Water Management and Suriname and Netherlands Antilles Affairs)
Ministers	Edzo Toxopeus (Interior) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Jelle Zijlstra (Finance) Albert Beerman (Justice) Jan de Pous (Economic Affairs) Sidney J. van den Bergh (Defence) (1959) Jan de Quay (Defence) (Ad interim) Sim Visser (Defence) (from 1959) Charles van Rooy (Social Affairs and Health) (1959–1961) Victor Marijnen (Social Affairs and Health) (Ad interim) Gerard Veldkamp (Social Affairs and Health) (from 1961) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1959–1961) Marga Klompé (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1961–1962) (Ad interim) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1962–1963) Marga Klompé (Education, Arts and Sciences) (from 1963) (Ad interim) Victor Marijnen (Agriculture and Fisheries) Jan van Aartsen (Housing and Construction) Marga Klompé (Social Work)
State Secretaries	Norbert Schmelzer (General Affairs) Theo Bot (Interior) Hans van Houten (Foreign Affairs) Willem van den Berge (Finance) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) (1959–1961) Frans Gijzels (Economic Affairs) (from 1961) Michael Calmeyer (Defence) Piet de Jong (Defence) Bauke Roolvink (Social Affairs and Health) Ynso Scholten (Education, Arts and Sciences) Gerard Stubenrouch (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1959–1962) (†) Harry Janssen (Education, Arts and Sciences) (from 1962) Eddie Stijkel (Transport and Water Management)

v t e Second Beel cabinet (1958–1959)
Preceded: Third Drees cabinet Succeed: De Quay cabinet
Prime Minister	Louis Beel (General Affairs and Social Affairs and Health)
Deputy Prime Minister	Teun Struycken (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations and Justice)
Ministers	Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Jelle Zijlstra (Finance and Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and Navy and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management) Herman Witte (Housing and Construction) Marga Klompé (Social Work) Gerard Helders (Colonial Affairs)
State Secretaries	Norbert Schmelzer (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Harry Moorman (Navy) René Höppener (Education, Arts and Sciences)

v t e Third Drees cabinet (1956–1958)
Preceded: Second Drees cabinet Succeed: Second Beel cabinet
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Teun Struycken (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations)
Ministers	Ko Suurhoff (Interior) (Ad interim) Joseph Luns (Foreign Affairs) Henk Hofstra (Finance) Ivo Samkalden (Justice) Jelle Zijlstra (Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and Navy) Ko Suurhoff (Social Affairs and Health) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jacob Algera (Transport and Water Management) (1956–1958) Herman Witte (Transport and Water Management) (Ad interim) Jan van Aartsen (Transport and Water Management) (1958) Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (1956–1958) Kees Staf (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (Ad interim) Anne Vondeling (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) (1958) Herman Witte (Housing and Construction) Marga Klompé (Social Work) Kees Staf (Colonial Affairs) (Ad interim) Gerard Helders (Colonial Affairs)
State Secretaries	Norbert Schmelzer (Interior, Property and Public Sector Organisations) Ernst van der Beugel (Foreign Affairs) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Ferdinand Kranenburg (War) (1956–1958) Meine van Veen (War) (1958) Harry Moorman (Navy) Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health) Anna de Waal (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1956–1957) René Höppener (Education, Arts and Sciences) (1956–1957)

v t e Second Drees cabinet (1952–1956)
Preceded: First Drees cabinet Succeed: Third Drees cabinet
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Louis Beel (Interior) (1952–1956)
Ministers	Julius Christiaan van Oven (Interior) (Ad interim) Johan Beyen (Foreign Affairs) Jo van de Kieft (Finance) Leendert Antonie Donker (Justice) (1952–1956) (†) Louis Beel (Justice) (Ad interim) Julius Christiaan van Oven (Justice) (from 1956) Jelle Zijlstra (Economic Affairs) Kees Staf (War and the Navy) Ko Suurhoff (Social Affairs and Health) Jo Cals (Education, Arts and Sciences) Jacob Algera (Transport and Water Management) Sicco Mansholt (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies) Herman Witte (Reconstruction and Housing) Louis Beel (Social Work) (Ad interim) Frans-Jozef van Thiel (Social Work) Willem Kernkamp (Colonial Affairs) (1952–1956) (†) Kees Staf (Colonial Affairs) (1956–1957) (Ad interim)
Ministers without portfolio	A. C. de Bruijn (Economic Policy) Joseph Luns (United Nations Affairs and Colonial Policy)
State Secretaries	Willem Hendrik van den Berge (Finance) Gerard Veldkamp (Economic Affairs) Ferdinand Kranenburg (War) Harry Moorman (Navy) Aat van Rhijn (Social Affairs and Health) Piet Muntendam (Social Affairs and Health) (1952–1953) Anna de Waal (Education, Arts and Sciences)

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